Folding roller



April 28, 1931. w. E, BECKER 1,802,749

FOLDING ROLLER Filed Oct. 25,- 1.929 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Rf WI. 56

April 28, 1931. w. E. BECKER FOLDING ROLLER Filed Oct. 23, 1929 4Sheets-Sheet 2 W. E BECKER FOLDING ROLLER April 28, 1931.

Filed Oct. 23, 1 29 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 W. E. BECKER FOLDING ROLLER April28, 1931.

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 23, 192

Patented Apr. 28, 1931 4- UNITED STATES PATENT oFF ca WILLIAM E. BECKER,OF CHICAGO, ILIIINOIS, ASSIGNOR 'IO GOSS PRINTING PRESS COM-- PANY, ACORPORATION OF ILLINOIS FOLDING ROLLER Application filed October 23,1929. Serial No. 401,68e.

This invention relates to a novel and useful rotary folding mechanismand more especially to such a folding mechanism for use in connectionwith the folding of newspapers which vary greatly in the number ofpages.

Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in parthereinafter andin part will be obvious herefrom, or may be learned bypractice with the invention, the same being realized and attained bymeans of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in theappended claims.

The invention consists in the novel parts, construction, arrangements,combinations and improvements herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawings, referred to herein and constituting a parthereof, illustrate one embodiment of the invention, and together withthedescription, serve to eX-' plain the principles of the invention.

Of the drawings:

Figure 1 isan elevation of a folding mechanism constructed in accordancewith the present invention, with certain parts broken away, and othersshown in section.

Figure 2 is an elevation of the mechanism shown in Figure 1, lookingfrom the other end of the folding cylinder, and showing the drivingmeans for the various folding rollers.

Figure 3 is a partial horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure'1.

Figure 4 is a detailed section taken on the line 4- 1: of Figure 1, and

Figure 5 is an end View looking from'theright of Figure 1.

The exemplary illustrated mechanism embodies mainly a rotary foldingcylinder taking and carrying the sheet or group of sheets constitutingthe newspaper or the like, and having mounted therein a rotatabletucking blade which is actuated at the proper time to medianly andtransversely fold the sheet or groups of sheets into the bite of a pairof folding rollers, thereby folding and feeding off the sheets in theusual manner, together with novel improvements in said structure.

By the present invention, the folding rollers are simultaneously movabletoward and away from each other, and. preferably toward and away fromthe folding cylinder and line of fold of the folding blade with whichthe rollers cooperate as the sheet or group of sheets is tucked'betweenthe folding roller by means of the folding or tucker blade. Preferably,the folding rollers are so moved that the distance between themand thefolding cylinder is increased sufficiently as the folding rollers aremoved away from each other to accommodate a larger number of sheets,between the rollers and cylinders so that the head of the sheet orsheets to be folded will be allowed to pass the forward folding rollerand there will be no tendency: for the outside sheet to be combed offthe folding cylinder by the folding rollers. The present invention alsoprovides a folding mechanism capable of folding products of widelyvarying sizes and which dispenses with the necessity for adjusting theposition of the folding or tucker blade to vary the distance it projectsfrom the folding cylinder or for substituting a blade of one width for ablade of another width, as has heretofore been necessary. J i

Preferably, and as embodied in the present illustrative embodiment ofthe invention, the folding rollers are always maintained in parallelismwith each other and with the folding cylinder, and as preferablynormally maintained equidistant from the line of strike of the foldingblade. Also, one of the folding rollers is preferably resilientlymounted at each of its ends and is movable toward and away from theother folding roller with anism, to make the successive folds, although.

the folding or tucker blade may be actuated by any other suitable means.

Other features of the invention will be initially pointed. out inconnection with the following detailed des r ption?! of tha P entpreferred embodiment of the invention, and it will be understood thatthe foregoing general description and the following detailed descriptionare both exemplary and explanatory, but not restricted of the invention.

preferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated by way of examplein the accom panying drawings, the member which carries the sheet, orusually the group of sheets preparatory to folding, and from which thesheet or group of sheets is folded off, comprises a folding cylinder 1,the shaft 2 of which is journalled in bearings 3 at either end: thereof,respectively, upon the side frames 4 of the machine. Suitable means areprovided for holdmg the sheet or group of sheets upon the cylinder,which meansmay be of any suitable kind or form, but are preferably theusual form of nnpaling pins (not shown) which engage with the lead endof the sheet or group of sheets. The folding cylinder is also providedwith-two folding blades, spaced a semi-circumference apart,

and preferably medianly of the impaling pins. A cuttin cylinder 6 shownconventionally, ournalled in bearings 7 on the machine frame, forming no.part of the present invention, may be used to cut the sheets from theassociated webs at this point, if desired.

Rotatably mounted upon the cylinder 1 are two folding or tuckingblades10 and 11, one. being shown at rest and the'other perfornnn 7 thefolding" operation, in Figure 1 of Lan drawing. As embodied,.the foldingblades are double-edged and make ahalf-revolution relatively to therotatin fOlCllIl" cvhnder a J c b n .1 1 ior each l old. A shalt- 12 1sournalleam bearings near either end thereof, thesebean ings beingmounted 1n the folding cylinder 1. Fixed to the shaft 121s ablade-carrymg body 14 entendm in both d1rections chametricallv L a b pfrom the shaft, and each of, these parts is adapated'to carry a foldingblade.

The blade actuating means 1s not shovm 1n the present drawlngs, and itmay be and preferably is of the well known Husby camj type, shownexemplarily in the patent'to Husby, No. 871,038 of 1907, in which anac-v tuating cam is rotatably mounted beneath the folding cylinder andis provided with a plurality of cam slotsfo-rmed therein. A

head or double arm is fixed centrally of its length to shaft 12; andhas'at either end ing rollers. 3

Referring now to the embodied form of folding means, in accordance withone feature of the invention, mechanism is provided for elficientlyfolding newspapers or other products varying relatively greatly in size,that is, in the number of sheets presented to the folder for folding.For example, a particular newspaper may vary in different editions orissues from four pages to sixty-four Referring now 1n detail to thepresent pages although the differences are usually relatively not sogreat.

In accordance with the present invention, and as shown in theillustrative embodiment, there are provided a pair of closely adjacentfolding rollers and 26 rotatably journalled directly beneath the foldingcylinder 1 and in parallelism with each other and the folding cylinder.Folding rollers 25 and 26 are mounted on shafts 27 and 28 respectivelyand the ends ofthese shafts are rotatably journalled in bearings 29 and30, 31 and 32, respectively, as will be more fully described below.

Driving means are provided for positively rotating the folding rollersat a peripheral speed equal to or very slightly in excess of that of thefolding cylinder, to take the sheet orgroup of sheets by the fold andcomplete the fold. These means preferably comprise gearing connectingthe folding rollers with the folding cylinder, to drive the foldingrollers from the folding cylinder, and as embodied, a gear 35 is fixedlymounted on shaft 2 by which folding cylinder 1 is rotatably journalledinthe frame, gear 35 preferably being mounted externally of the frame.Meshing with gear 35 is an idler 36, rotatably journalled externally ofthe frame by means of a stub shaft, and this idler in turn meshes withthe folding roller driving gear 37, rotatably journalled in the pressframe by means of a shaft, which carries gear 38 at its inner end, gear38' being immovable with respect to gear 37. Gear 38 meshes with pinion39 secured to one end of the'folding roller shaft 28- and also mesheswith a relatively wide-idler pinion 40 rotatably mounted by shaft 41journalled in a suitable bearing at the side of and fixed with respectto the bearing 32 in which the correspondingend of foldingrollershaft'27 is journalled. Idler pinion 40, in turn, meshes with and drivesthe folding roller pinion 42 atthe end of folding roller shaft 27.Pinions 39 and 42 are preferably' staggered with respect to each otherthereby permittingthe folding rollers to be moved close together at thesame time maintaining their driving connection with the foldingcylinder.

Referring now to'the mounting of the fol ding rollers whereby they maybe moved away from eachother, the folding cylinder and the foldingblade, folding roller 25 is rotatably journalled' by means of the endsof folding roller shaft 27 in bearings 29 and 30. Attached to bearings29 and 30 and support ing the'bearings in the desired positionaresquarerods 46, slidable in suitable guides- 47 I at either side of thepress frame, guides 47 being attached to the inner sides of the pressframe by means of brackets 48. Guides 47 are preferably formed with aremovable top plate 49, held in position and against the square rod bymeans of screws 50, thereby facilitating the removal of the foldingroller 25 and its bearings.

The folding rollers are preferably mounted beneath the folding cylinderand are preferably movable to and from each other and to ward and awayfrom the folding cylinder and the line of strike of the folding ortucker blade. As embodied, the path of movement of one folding roller ispreferably at right angles to the path of movement of the other roller,and both of the folding rollers are movable in a generally downwarddirection as they are moved away from each other. This movement of thefolding rollers with respect to each other and the folding cylinderinsures that the space bet-ween the folding rollers will beapproximately double the space between the folding rollers and thefolding cylinder and that there will be sufficient space between thefolding cylinder and.

the forward folding roller to freely pass the head ofthe' sheet or groupof sheets as! they are fed around on the surface of the foldingcylinder. The greater the separation between the folding rollers, thegreater will be the distance between the folding cylinder and thefolding rollers, and only a single adjustment ofthe various parts needbe made for any desired size of product.

The other folding roller 26 is preferably mounted so as to beresiliently urged towards the forward folding roller 25 to give theproper pinch to the folded sheet or sheets, and is also movable towardand away from the other folding roller and the folding cylinder 1.Folding roller shaft 28 is rotatably journalled at its ends in bearings31 and 32 formed at the ends of rods 52 whichoextend away from thefolding rollers and are slidably supported in sockets 53 which areformed at the upper ends of the square rods 55, which in turn areslidably mounted in the slideways 56 supported on the inner sides of thepress frame by means of brackets 48. The square rods a-re'retainedwithin the slideways by means of the cover plates 57 secured to theupper side of the slideways 56 by means of screws 58. Bearings 81 and32,

- and consequently folding roller 26, are resiliently pressed towardsfolding roller 25 by means of heavy coiled springs 59, retained withinsockets 53, and compressed between the ends 60 of the sockets and thelarge portion of rods 52, while the spring is coiled around the reducedportion 61 of rods 52, The resilient movement of folding roller 26toward folding roller 25 is preferably limited by means of nuts 62,threadedly secured to a correspondingly threaded portion of the reducedend of the rods 52, and bearing against the outer end surface of thesockets 58. The normal position of the'folding roller 26 with respect tothe folding blades and folding roller 25 can thus be adjusted by turningnuts 62.

For positively moving the folding rollers towards and from each otherand the folding cylinder and for holding the folding rollers in any oftheir adjust-ed positions, square rods 46 and 55, on which the foldingrollers are supported below folding cylinder 1, are each provided attheir lower endswitha threaded portion 65 cooperating with a similarlythreaded worm gear 66 *rotatably mounted on the reduced threaded portionof these rods, and held against axial movement between the faces of aslot formed by the lower ends of the guideways 47 or 56 and lugs securedto the brackets 4-8. As the worm gears 66 are rotated, the square rods46 and 52 are correspondingly moved to raise or lower the foldingrollers and variably position them relative to each other and to thefolding cylinder.

Means are preferably providedlfor simultaneously moving the foldingrollers and for always maintaining the folding rollers in parallelismwith each other and with the folding cylinder, and means are preferablyprovided for simultaneously moving all the worm gears 66 to an equalextent. As embodied, meshing with each of the worm gears 66 connectedwith each folding rolleris a worm 67, the worms for moving foldingroller 25 being mounted on and secured to shaft 68, while those forfolding roller 26 are fixed on shaft 69. Shafts 68 and 69 extendtransversely of the frame, and are rotatably journalled in the sideframes 4, as well as'in alined ournals formed in lugs 70 at the sides ofbrackets 48. At one side of the frame, shafts 68 and 69 carry bevelgears 72, meshing with correspondingly bevelled gears 73 fixed to ashaft 74:, ro-tatably journalled in brackets 7 5 on the outside of thepress frame l and extending between the bevel gears 7 2. At one end,shaft 69 is provided with a hand wheel 76, and any turning of this handwheel causes a corresponding rotation of all the wormgears-66 togetherwith a similar variationoin the position of the folding'rollers 25 and26 with respect to each other and the folding cylinder;

The invention in its broader-aspectsis not limited to the specificmechanisms shown and described but departures may be made therefromwithin the scope of'the accompanying claims without departing from theprinciples of the invention and without sacrificing its chiefadvantages.

What I claim is 1. A folding mechanism for use with printing pressesincluding in combination a folding cylinder having a tucker blade, apair of folding rollers between which sheets are folded by the tuckerblade, and means for moving each of said folding rollers toward and awayfrom each other and the folding cylinder at substantially equal rates.

2. A folding mechanism for use with'printing presses including incombination a folding cylinder having a tucker blade, a pair of foldingrollers between which sheets are folded by the tucker blade, and meansfor simultaneously moving both folding rollers equal distances towardand away from the folding cylinder, and the line of strike of thefolding blade.

3. A folding mechanism for use with printing presses including incombination, means for moving the sheets to be folded, a folding blade,a pair of folding rollers between which the sheets are folded by thefolding blade, andmeans for simultaneously moving both folding rollersaway from each other and the path of movement of the sheets.

' 4. A folding mechanism including in combination a pair of foldingrollers, a folding blade for folding sheets between the rollers as thesheets are fed over the rollers, and means for moving each of saidrollers substantially equal distances to and from the line of fold andthe path of feed of the sheets.

5. A folding mechanism including in combination a pair of foldingrollers, a folding blade for folding sheets between the rollers as thesheets are fed over therollers, means for resiliently mounting one ofsaid rollers permitting it to move away from the other roller, and meansfor moving each of said rollers substantially equal distances toward andaway from the line of fold and the path of feed of the sheets.

6. A folding mechanism including in combination a pair of foldingrollers, afolding blade for folding sheets between the rollers as thesheets are fed over the rollers, means for resiliently mounting one ofsaid rollers permitting it'to move away from the other roller, means formoving each of said rollers substan tially equal distances toward andaway from the line of fold and the path of feed of the sheets, andgearing for driving said rollers in any of their adjusted positions.

7. A folding mechanism for printing presses including in combination afolding cylinder having a tucker blade, a pair of folding rollersbetween which sheets are folded by the tucker blade, a resilientmounting for one of the folding rollers permitting it to move in ahorizontal plane toward and away from the other folding roller and meansfor simultaneously moving both folding rollers equal distancesdownwardly toward and away from the folding cylinder and the line ofstrike of the folding blade.

8. A folding mechanism for printing presses including in combination afolding cylinderhaving atucker blade, a pair of folding rollers betweenwhich sheets are folded by the tucker blade, means for'simultaneouslymoving: the folding rollers toward and away from each other and thefolding cylinder, and gearing for driving said foldingrollers in any oftheir adjusted positions.

9.- A folding mechanism for printing presses including in combination afolding cylinder having a tucker blade, a pair of folding rollersbetween which sheets are folded by the tucker blade, means forsimultaneously moving the folding rollers equal distances toward andaway from the folding cylinder and the line of strike of the foldingblade, and gearing for driving said folding rollers in any of theiradjusted positions.

10. A folding mechanism for printing presses including in combination afolding cylinder having a tucker blade, a pair of folding rollersbetween which sheets are folded by the tucker blade, means for variablypositioning said folding rollers relatively to each other and thefolding cylinder, a gear driven by the folding cylinder, pinions movablewith the folding rollers and driving the folding rollers from the gearin any of the several folding positions of the folding rollers, theseveral positions of the pinions and folding rollers being such that thepinions are moved substantially tangentially to the gear.

11. A folding mechanism for printing presses including in combination afolding cylinder having a tucker blade, a pair of folding rollersbetween which sheets are folded by the tucker blade, a gear driven by bythe fol-ding cylinder, pinions driving the folding rollers from thegear, and means for variably positioning said folding rollers andpinions relatively to each other and the folding cylinder, the severalpositions of said pinions lying along tangents to said gear so that thefolding rollers can be driven in any of their folding positions.

12. A folding mechanism for use with printing presses including incombination, a folding cylinder having a tucker blade, a pair of foldingrollers between which sheets are folded by the tucker blade, means forresiliently pressing one of said rollers towards the other andadditional means, for spacing said rollers from each other and thefolding cylinder while maintaining the roll ers equidistant from theline of fold.

13. A folding mechanism for use with printing presses including incombination, a folding cylinder having a tucker blade, a pair of foldingrollers between which sheets are folded by the tucker blade, means forsimultaneously and variably spacing said rollers relative to each otherand the line of fold while maintaining the line of fold centrally of thefolding rollers, and other means for resiliently mounting one of saidrollers allowing it to move away from the other.

14:. A folding mechanism for use with printing presses including incombination a folding cylinder having a tucker blade, 21, pair offolding rollers between which sheets are folded by the tucker blade,means for simultaneously and variably spacing said rollers relative toeach other and the line of fold while maintaining the line of foldcentrally of the folding rollers, means for resiliently mounting oneonly of said rollers allowing it to move away from the other and gearingfor driving said rollers in any of their adjusted positions.

15. A folding mechanism for printing presses including in combination afolding cylinder having a tucker blade, a pair of folding rollersbetween which sheets are folded by the tucker blade, a gear driven bythe folding cylinder, pinions driving the folding rollers from the gear,and means for simultaneously moving said folding rollers and pinionsequal distances from each other and the folding cylinder the paths ofmovement of said pinions being tangential to said gear whereby thefolding rollers can be driven in any of their folding positions.

16. A folding mechanism for use with printing presses including incombination, a folding cylinder having a tucker blade, a pair of foldingrollers between which sheets are folded by the tucker blade means forsimultaneously and variably spacing the rollers relative to each otherand the line of fold while maintaining the line of fold centrally of thefolding rollers and for spacing the rollers an equal distance from thefolding cylinder means for resiliently pressing one of said rollerstowards the other and allowing it to move away from the other roller andgearing for driving the folding rollers from the folding cylinder in anyof their adjusted folding positions. I

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

WILLIAM E. BECKER.

